Almost Famous is a 2000 comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and starring Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson, and Patrick Fugit. It tells the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine in the early 1970s while covering the fictitious rock band Stillwater, and his efforts to get his first cover story published. The film is semi-autobiographical, as Crowe himself was a teenage writer for Rolling Stone. The film is based on Crowe's experiences touring with rock bands Poco, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, Eagles, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Crowe has discussed how during this period he lost his virginity, fell in love, and met his heroes — experiences that are shared by William Miller, the baby-faced main character of the film. Despite being a box office failure, the film received positive reviews. It received four Oscar nominations, one of which led to an award to Crowe for his screenplay. It was also awarded the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Roger Ebert hailed it the best film of the year. Show Less

Philip Seymour Hoffman was an intimidating, intense teacher on "Almost Famous," the movie's young star Patrick Fugit recalls. Fugit, who played aspiring rock journalist William Miller, said he was initially intimidated by Hoffman's method approach to his character, which made him stand-offish to others on the set. When it came time to film a scene, Hoffman led by doing and expected his young co-star to rise to his level. "Philip was very forward with me, in a school-of-hard-knocks way," Fugit explains in a first-person essay in Tuesday's
New York Post. "It was almost like when you go on a hike with your dad, and your dad just hikes the mountain and expects you to keep up. That’s the way Philip did the scenes. There was a certain weight that came with him. There was sort of a darkness. That’s part of what made his acting so compelling and complete."